vehicles have very good vehicles coming along here. i reported it to the council and nothing happened. i reported it to the police and it was repaired within two hours. i needed to make sure i could do everything i could to make sure no one was injured. that's what started your passion to rid the roads of potholes?” that's what started your passion to rid the roads of potholes? i thought someone rid the roads of potholes? i thought someone has to stand up. we spend an awful lot of money on our taxes and get a decreasing quality of roads, someone get a decreasing quality of roads, someone needed to make a stand so i started with a small social media campaign. mark has become an expert in road construction. he has been nicknamed mr pothole. mark reckons there are so many potholes close to where he lives, it's almost an epidemic. inside out has come up with a challenge. we will find out how many potholes there are within a 15 minute drive from his house. i will be timing him. this is a lovely one you will go

over. you really feel that. this is a lovely one you will go over. you really feelthat. as this is a lovely one you will go over. you really feel that. as we come round to spend, you see there are more. there is a massive cluster, you can feel them, day in, day out. i can - it l my avoid these ones because i don't to avoid these ones because i don't wa nt to to avoid these ones because i don't want to damage my ii you - want to damage my tire. you can have blow out. later want to damage my tire. you can have blow out later you want to damage my tire. you can have blow out. later - you don't able-1m the damage, - can be have seen over afoot seen? 517 5 ss——— a seen? 517 5 55——— a nice one forming there, just deep. a nice one forming there, just outside. over there and extremely

rough patch breaking up quite considerably. everywhere you look there are potholes? there are some craters you could hit your car with if you went down. we will find out later how mark got on with his challenge. of course, car and lorry drivers aren't the only users of our roads. potholes might be a nuisance for motorists spot for cyclists, they are much scarier and more dangerous. these members of a local cycling club say they are always trying to dodge and avoid potholes. they claim the rules in —— roads in northamptonshire are some of the worst. it can be quite scary because there are so many potholes we spend so much time looking out for them that it does spoil the enjoyment of the cycle ride itself. have you yourself had any accidents?” the cycle ride itself. have you

yourself had any accidents? i have been sent off by a pothole on a roundabout in northampton, i was making a turn, my narrow front wheel got caught in the pothole, fetched me off. lots of traffic about. fortu nately a me off. lots of traffic about. fortunately a man working on the road stopped the traffic so i could get up and get away. as a cyclist you must see potholes in the road all the time. do you report them? we do. they do not always get fixed. i feel aggrieved about that because having bothered to report it and give a location, we would expect some follow—up action. this is hawthorn road in northampton. a pothole repair team busy at work. the plan is to do longer lasting repairs across the county, but only the worst potholes get filled. in northamptonshire we are not able to fix every pothole thatis are not able to fix every pothole that is reported to us or picked up

on our inspections. what constitutes a pothole is a whole that is 15 millimetres deep and about a foot wide and is really a risk to the public. if it is slightly less than that it won't get filled. it would not meet the criteria. we constantly monitor the network of roads and paths to look at these potholes and we will fix them if they are a safety defect. something smaller could be a hazard on the road even though it does not meet your criteria for size? we are unable to fill those at the moment. again it's about using our budget to the best of our ability. as is so often the case, it boils down to money. there is just not enough to fix all the potholes. so who is responsible? the funding of roads is split between central and local government. basically the government pays for all motor ways and a roads, that's about 90% of the roads we

use. they are the responsibility of local authorities. all the rest. why do we see so many potholes on our roads? the simple answer is whether. we have had one of the harshest winters we have had for a long time, prolonged cold patches, rain, snow, wind, you name it. do you have any idea wind, you name it. do you have any id ea exa ctly wind, you name it. do you have any idea exactly how many potholes there are in northamptonshire? in terms of how many there are an existence, i know how many we fell, roughly speaking. 47,000, thereabouts in an average year. the government told us it will have given northamptonshire cou nty it will have given northamptonshire county council more than £97 million offa county council more than £97 million off a highway maintenance between 2015 and 2021. plus a bit extra from a special pothole fund but the council say that is still not enough. what have the government

told you when you say we need more money? they appreciate that but as with all these things they say there is only so much money. we have a 1.1 million from the pothole fund this year, possibly a similar amount last year, possibly a similar amount last year but a drop in the ocean compared to what we need. the council is now tackling the biggest cash crisis faced by any council in the country for the last two decades. potholes or won't be a priority. we are trying to maintain them at their current level, we are doing a rather good job of that. they will deteriorate but they weren't necessarily improve. —— won't deteriorate but won't necessarily improve. we were asked mark to record a number of potholes ona mark to record a number of potholes on a five—minute drive from his home. are you disappointed by what you found ? home. are you disappointed by what you found? yes, we need government to invest in our roads. it's all right putting in new infrastructure but we need to maintain the roads we

use day in day out that drive this economy. mark has finished his 15 minute challenge, how did you get on, how many potholes did you find? 75? wow. ithought on, how many potholes did you find? 75? wow. i thought you would say 20 or30. 75? wow. i thought you would say 20 or 30. that's an incredible amount. were you surprised? not really. i can see how roads are deteriorating. it's notjust here, it's across the whole country. there are potholes everywhere. everywhere you can see, some had been left for such a longtime, someone will get killed. they have some fantastic old trains here, the east anglia and railway museum. 2018 is the 17th anniversary of the creation of british rail. last week the government said it may have to take back east coast service so is it time to turn the clock back and renationalise the network? our

ra i lwa ys renationalise the network? our railways were originally private companies. then 70 years ago there we re companies. then 70 years ago there were nationalised and became a british railways. in 1994, john major's government privatise them again. iam major's government privatise them again. i am looking back at the history of rail to see what lessons we can learn for the east coast line today. this station close to passengers in 1968, now the mid norfolk railway is a tourist attraction and proof that railways are still very popular. i am going to discover how our railways have been affected by nationalisation and in turn privatisation. once there we re in turn privatisation. once there were 120 private lines, by the 1940s these have become four big companies which were nationalised. why were the railways nationalised in the first place? after the second world war, railways are hugely worn out. we don't have any money. there are

big railway companies, great western, southern, lms and lner, two of them are particularly struggling, lms of them are particularly struggling, lm 5 m ostly, of them are particularly struggling, lms mostly, they will go bankrupt. one reason for nationalisation is to stop that happening. in 1994 it was all change again, and the government privatised british rail. but one line has struggled to make money for its owners and with price tags and delays, have been the cause of misery for commuters. this line, the east coast main line which runs through peterborough has been in a state of change for years. it's been run by several private companies and has been nationalised twice so far. are our railways still in the state of flux, and can they get back on track. cat hobbs runs a campaign calling for the wee rationalisation of the railways. the idea of having a market is that you have swashbuckling entrepreneurs who are taking risks. —— renationalisation.

that does not really work if the private sector just takes all the profit and the public sector takes the risk. last week the transport secretary announced that he's coast franchise currently run by virgin and stagecoach has failed, and will end early. this is what you expect ina end early. this is what you expect in a competitive franchise system, private businesses risk substantial amounts of their own capital and if they fail to live up to their targets they lose out, not the taxpayer. this has happened before. in 2009, national express walked away from the same franchise, a government owned company stepped in, run by michael holden. we spend a lot of time investing in people and in systems, but also on the trains and stations themselves. if you can make these coast main line work, why couldn't the private sector? there we re couldn't the private sector? there were some of the crash because there weren't generating enough revenue from the business to pay the premium

due to the government. they did not have the money to do what is needed. it's the same story again this month. with the line be better run if it was nationalised? you can run ra i lwa ys if it was nationalised? you can run railways successfully in either the public or private sector, you pay your money and take your choice. governments generally speaking not good at running things. my view is that the government ought to set the sense of direction and vision, if you like, for the industry, then leave it to professional people to get on and deliver that vision over a period of 20 years or so. 20 years gives time for long—term investment and planning. these coast has had four operators, including the government operator in the last 20 yea rs government operator in the last 20 years since privatisation. before that, a brand for almost 50 years under british rail. once upon a time, british rail was thejewel in the crown of our national transport system. though there are some who don't remember it like that. charles

swift spent his working life on the railways, based in peterborough. he started at lner when he was 15 years old. in 1945, three years before nationalisation. when it went from lner and it was one privately internationalisation, did it feel differently straightaway? no, it had to work its way. for several years after, when we were first nationalised, we still have ran the same, then we started getting a different type of management in. people that started to tell you what you should be doing when they did not even know what the hell they we re not even know what the hell they were doing themselves. people then eventually wanted to get off the job. to be quite honest, i was quite happy to get away at the end of the day because there were not supervisors that had been railway drivers and things like that. you had someone coming from outside to do thejob. people had someone coming from outside to do the job. people did had someone coming from outside to do thejob. people did get a bit

peed off with the red tape and things like that. there is still a romantic view of the glory days of railways, partly because it was a way of life for the 600,000 people who worked on them. doreen foster worked at lner in peterborough in the 1940s. worked at lner in peterborough in the 19405. i worked at lner in peterborough in the 1940s. i love trains. of any kind. mostly steam trains, for grandad he was a driver. they used to go down to the loco shed, years ago. there was a job going at the lner savings bank, so i applied for it and got it. did you notice a real difference in the way things had run? pre—nationalisation and post—nationalisation once everything became british rail? it did not seem the same. it wasn't the family atmosphere. even within the standard

perspective, would anyone want to turn the clock back to the times when british rail was known for jokes about it damages? no. we can't go back to the 1970s and i don't think we would want to. -- jokes about its sandwiches.” think we would want to. -- jokes about its sandwiches. i think we need to learn the lesson about the past and make something fit for the modern time. british rail was underinvested in. where does the money come from? we don't have to buy back the tracks, we already have national rail. the rolling stock would be pretty expensive? that is least, it is owned by private companies, government can buy trains directly and that will be much more efficient. right now railways are we blame game, everyone can blame eve ryo ne blame game, everyone can blame everyone else. the dft, the train company, rolling stock companies, actually if you run the system as one integrated system, you would not have those problems. if push came to

shove and we decided to buy back the franchises, do you think it's something we could afford or should afford ? something we could afford or should afford? i think it would be a very bad idea and if the treasury was involved in the decision—making after the next election, i think they would stay, do you want to spend as much money buying the trains back would you prefer to spend it on improving the nhs and i think it's obvious what the answer to that would be. giles's long history as a train driver has given him at strong views about re—nationalising the railways. him at strong views about re-nationalising the railways. they talk about putting the railways back under the government or nationalising them again, it's the biggest load of codswallop i've ever come across because it would not work. there is not the affinity, railwaymen went to work. they went half an hour before the start of work and it would be half an hour after they finished when they would go home. they loved thejob. after they finished when they would go home. they loved the job. of any lessons from history that the troubled east coast line can learn from today? we really do need to learn or decide if our railways are

a service or there to make a profit. when which railways, people complained about the money being spent on it. now it's privatised, people complain about the amount of money they have to spend on the train ticket. people really need to make a proper decision about what we wa nt make a proper decision about what we want from our railway system. it is now thought that 1% of the british population is gendered nonconforming. more people every year are seeking treatment to change their gender. sophie has been to meet the parents who support their children who are desperate to change. what colour are we going to do next? do you want to go a bit darker next time? yeah. for cheerleading, can i have my hair in a ponytail then curled at the back? if you want to, darling. and lives in bedfordshire

with her three children. her eldest daughter is keira, who used to be a boy. keira was more, i want to dress up boy. keira was more, i want to dress up as boy. keira was more, i want to dress upasa boy. keira was more, i want to dress up as a girl. she was practising with make up. wanting to grow her hair. i actually spoke to a sexual health officer, she said i think actually you know, you have got a little girl trapped in a boy's body. at the time, and thought it was a phase. but as the years went by, she realised it was than that. keira, when she was a boy and was lucas, she was very quiet, very timid. looking back it's because she was so uncomfortable in herself as a boy. she did not want to go and face people and do anything. when she transitioned and became keira, something clicked overnight in her and she is more confident. she knows what she wants and she is sticking to her guns. and she is still only

13. is this your room? wow. wonderful. a year wonderful. ayearago, wonderful. a year ago, keira ditched the boys clothes and when shopping for a whole new wardrobe.” clothes and when shopping for a whole new wardrobe. i said, you can choose what you like. she said, whatever i like? i said yeah, if you wa nt whatever i like? i said yeah, if you want girls close, go and use them and her whole face [it up. want girls close, go and use them and her whole face lit up. where is the sparkly jacket? this. that's her favourite. that is really, really nice. do they do this in a size 12?! i want one. from that day on, she wanted to be known to the world as keira. although keira looks like a girl, she won't be able to have surgery to change a physical form she won't be able to have surgery to change a physicalform until she's an adult. until then, change a physicalform until she's an adult. untilthen, she change a physicalform until she's an adult. until then, she will be offered medication to delay puberty. this will give her time to decide what she wants to do.

do you ever worry about her future? of course, absolutely i do. we have things coming up like a woman blockers. —— hormone blockers. puberty kicking in, what effect that will have on her mental health overall. that's what concerns me. a lot of transgender children do try to commit suicide and health self harm. that's due to lack of support from family or for how they feel about their bodies. although there are organisations that can help pa rents are organisations that can help parents deal with the challenges of bringing upa parents deal with the challenges of bringing up a transgender child, emma has decided to find some local support. this woman lives 30 minutes away in hertfordshire. her son dexter is now seven. i think it was around two and a half, that he started to protest about wearing knickers and wearing girl's clothes. the terminology used was, i feel a

boy. he would say that. i feel a boy and point to his heart. by five and a half, dexter had realised he was not meant to be a little girl. i'm not meant to be a little girl. i'm not a girl. i'm not meant to be a little girl. i'm nota girl. i'm nota girl. i'm a boy. he came running in from the guard on monday, and said i've got it, money, and i said, got what? i am dexter, money. i it, money, and i said, got what? i am dexter, money. lam dexter. i said awesome, love that name. he ran back out into the garden and carried on playing. emma and keira have arrived in st albans. many parents feel quite alone when raising a transgender child. today, keira's mum and dexter's mum are meeting up to offer each other support.”

really feel like i have grieved, i grieved for talia, and not because i'm unhappy with you i'm left with, i love dexter to bits. it is like a loss of somebody. what do you think is the hardest thing for parents like us with transgender children? what's the hardest thing to cope with? the hardest thing is not being able to fix him, not being able to ta ke able to fix him, not being able to take his pain away and his anxiety away and not being able to, you know, when he's awake in the night and he says, ma'am, why did you make me wrong? why don't my privates match my brain and my heart? i can't make that better and as parents, thatis make that better and as parents, that is all you want to do. to fix everything for your kids. my biggest fear is her being bullied or discriminated against. 0r fear is her being bullied or discriminated against. or for her mental health being affected because at the minute it's not. i don't care

what anyone thinks, ijust don't wa nt what anyone thinks, ijust don't want anyone being mean to her. there is one place in the country within the nhs which deals with a child facing gender difficulties. based in london, the tavistock sees 2000 children a year and last year they took around 300 children from they took around 300 children from the east. it's a figure that is rising all the time. today is dexter's fourth visit and even though he's only seven, his mother is worried about puberty kicking in. she does not want to let him down. for us, the thing we needed confirmation from from tavistock was, ami confirmation from from tavistock was, am i doing the right thing by being so accepting of him? sometimes you need the confirmation and reassurance from a professional. with dexter getting older, it's a race against time to get in the hormones he needs to blockers female puberty. and his mother wants to know if this practice will be safe. it's fair to say that the evidence

base in this area is poor. but as far as we know, this is a fully reversible treatment. as far as we know, the long—term implications in terms of health seem to be positive. asi terms of health seem to be positive. as i say, we don't have full evidence. we must be realistic. at the moment, there isjoy and enormous interest in gender. —— there is enormous interest in gender. we always have continued to work carefully to ensure young people and theirfamilies are carefully to ensure young people and their families are fully aware of what they are undertaking and that there is time to consider that. it's about not shutting doors and making assumptions about how things will be in the future. the nhs advisers time and space for a child who is questioning their gender. while mums

like emma and my inner continued to learn what it means to be transgender, children like keira and dexter can work out their true identity. the will it, won't it with a game of the easterly flow or an atlantic one will dominate the weather from some stage next week, continuing as it turns colder with a risk of snow. the evidence favours that easterly change, and we will look at the moment. for the weekend, we still have that air from the atlantic, indicated by the arrows here. it's been quite chilly but as the weekend goes on, some less chilly air will waft our way. it does mean with that though there will be increasing cloud. i hope you enjoyed friday's sunshine. less about around by the time we get to sunday. this is the picture by saturday, early hill snow affecting northern parts of the uk, fizzling out as a weak weather france works east and south probably with nothing more than an area of

cloud into the afternoon. one or two showers in the west but snow showers in the hills of north—west scotland, temperatures rising to around seven or 11 degrees. there will be frost and south—east england. part two of the weekend, into sunday, this is the weekend, into sunday, this is the next weather front. the weekend, into sunday, this is the next weatherfront. producing cloud but with less cold air. a warm front. early sunshine across eastern parts will be short lived, a touch of frost to begin the day and increasing cloud, outbreaks of rain moving in. temperatures slow to recover in the east were quicker to do so in cardiff, plymouth and belfast, up to 12 degrees. cloud and outbreaks of rain edge east, probably stalling close to the eastern side of the uk on monday, still some patchy rain. maybe brighter breaks in the west but mainly a cloudy picture on monday. looks like the mildest day could well be for the rest of the month going into march, 10 degrees in

stornoway, 10 degrees in edinburgh. the picture for monday, that weather front in the east dies away on monday and going into tuesday, another one edges in from the west. cloud outbreaks of rain. look at the wind arrows. this is an easterly wind arrows. this is an easterly wind coming across the north sea, the east and south of the uk. if that easterly kicks in, that probably will not get much further. probably die in situ, lots of cloud around. again we have this easterly flow taking hold. notice as it does, temperatures are coming down. this pa rt temperatures are coming down. this part of the weather story still not set in stone. it is most favoured though with high pressured scandinavian air around the south—east, with a risk of snow on that as well. do not take this as read that that will be happening at the end of next week. some computer models still won the atlantic to be in charge of the weather with wet

and windy conditions but less cold across the uk. this is the most favoured idea. high pressure means a cold easterly flow coming in and again the risk of some snow on that later next week on to the following weekend, perhaps for the rest of february. next week starts mild, does not last, points to an easterly wind taking over. a colder flow and then the possibility of snow. still not set in stone. what is for sure that the weather is turning much more interesting and winter is not done with us yet. tonight at ten: prosecutors in the united states charge 13 russians with interfering in the 2016 presidential election. the indictments claim they spread fake news about mr trump's rivals, and even organised political rallies posing as his supporters. the indictment alleges that the russian conspirators want to promote discord

in the us and undermine public confidence in democracy, we must not allow them to succeed. these are the first charges from the department ofjustice in the long running investigation into alleged election meddling. also tonight: there'll be no new oxfam bids for government funding until the charity meets higher standards, as one former aid worker, says she was sexually assaulted by colleagues. he literallyjust pinned me up against the wall,